Rajesh Nambiar appointed as CMD of Cognizant India

Nambiar will also perform the role of Executive Committee representative

Cognizant on Tuesday announced the appointment of Rajesh Nambiar as the Chairman and Managing Director of India and a member of the Executive Committee with effect from November 9, 2020.

He joins Cognizant from Ciena, a networking, systems, and software company, where he currently serves as Chairman and President of Ciena, India, the company said in a statement.

Rajesh is a global citizen, having lived and worked in India, Asia Pacific, Europe, and the US. His extensive general management, commercial, and delivery experience includes more than a dozen years with IBM and 18 years with Tata Consultancy Services.

At IBM, Rajesh was the General Manager and Global Leader for IBM’s Application Services Business, with oversight of an $8 billion global P&L. He also served on the board of IBM India and as a member of The National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) Executive Council while at IBM.

“We are pleased to welcome Rajesh to Cognizant and our Executive Committee,” said Brian Humphries, CEO, Cognizant.

“In the repositioned and elevated role of the India Chairman and Managing Director, Rajesh will strengthen our brand positioning in India and enhance our relationships with relevant Indian government agencies, chambers of commerce, universities, the media, and key policy-making bodies, including NASSCOM," he said.

"Rajesh will also serve as the Executive Committee representative of our nearly 200,000 associates in India," he added.

“My priority is to build upon Cognizant’s rich legacy of innovation, industry leadership, and client-centric employee culture to help the company engineer modern businesses that improve everyday life,” Nambiar said.